Brooke Halliday hits out during the White Ferns innings against India in the third ODI match of their series in Ahmedabad. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The White Ferns have fallen short in their one-day international series against India, losing the decider in Ahmedabad by six wickets.
After their T20 World Cup win earlier this month, hopes were high that the New Zealanders could follow up with an ODI series win in India, especially after they took the second of the three matches comfortably to level the series.
But the loss of early wickets when batting first ultimately proved their downfall in match three. With World Cup player of the tournament Melie Kerr out of the series with injury the pressure was on the top order to perform, but veterans Suzie Bates (4) and Sophie Devine (9) both fell cheaply. Opener Georgia Plimmer continued her good form with 39, but the team was under big pressure at 88 for five.
Brooke Halliday showed great grit to compile 86, battling dehydration as she spearheaded the New Zealand innings. They scored 232 all out, with one ball remaining in their 20 overs.
It was unlikely to be a big enough total and although the Ferns got rid of oener Shafali Verma early, they were unltimately thwarted by an excellent century from Smriti Mandhana, who put behind cheap dismissals in the first two matches to show her class. She notched her third ODI hundred of the year before being bowled by Hannah Rowe, who took two for 47 off her eight overs.
Mandhana's partnership of 117 with captain Harmanpreet Kaur put them well above the strike rate required and Kaur was still at the wicket when they passed the White Ferns total with 34 balls to spare.
Despite the loss, skipper Devine said it had been a worthy effort.
"We were down to 12 players and lost our best player to injury. We've been on the road for seven weeks, and we come to a country where the conditions are as foreign as they get. The fact we took this India side team all the way to the decider I'm very proud of this group," she told Sky Sport.
"We just didn't quite get enough runs despite Brooke Halliday fighting against dehydration and heat stroke. It was pretty incredible to see the resilience shown from her."
Devine was also pleased with the effort of young spinners Eden Carson and Fran Jonas stepping up during the series in Kerr's absence, while Lea Tahuhu had epitomised the pluck of the side, bowling on despite a leg injury.
''We weren't good enough today. But we'll go home, reflect, review, have a well deserved break and come back fighting for our next series," Devine said.
That series is three ODI matches against Australia, beginning on 19 December in Wellington.